The Scarlet Letter and symbolism in Puritan society

Scarlet Letter is one of the most widely admired works by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The characters have often been described as allegorical in nature since they seem to represent something or the other throughout the novel. Yvor Winters called the novel "pure allegory" where he felt that the characters represented various degrees of sins: "Hester represents the repentant sinner, Dimmesdale the half-repentant sinner and Chillingworth the unrepentant sinner." (p.3) Matthiessen on the other hand did not agree with this interpretation and felt that the characters represented various degrees of allegory with Pearl bearing the greatest responsibility of representation. However this interpretation fails to establish the symbols that each character represents. Some critics have even rejected the entire notion of the novel being allegorical in any sense and instead find it highly realistic with Hester symbolizing the "fallible human reality." (Chase, p. 79)

Critics have their own opinion but from a close personal reading of the work, it becomes clear that Hester, Pearl, Dimmesdale and Chillingworth all have a symbolic value as well. Each character represents something that was important to the basic plot and themes of the novel. Since the novel is about weird Puritanical values and their negative impact on people's lives and psyches, each character comes forth with a message. This message is presented in an allegorical fashion in order to mitigate the attack. Hester represents not the lack of morality but instead the lack of forgiveness in the society. Her one wrong action is harshly punished by the society so much so that while she may have reformed and repented, Hester cannot shrug off the burden of her sin. The scarlet Letter that she wears as a badge of shame is society's stiff attitude towards the wrongdoer. We need to understand here that Hester was not a bad person. She committed adultery since her husband was away for a long time and she succumbed to her physical needs. What makes the society entirely unforgiving is the fact that they don't let her live a normal but punishes her so severely that her whole life becomes a shameful burden. He uses various symbols and images to highlight the sickness in the society of 16th century England where prison serves as the symbol of psychological, moral and spiritual imprisonment: "Before this ugly edifice...was a grass-plot, much overgrown with burdock, pigwig, apple-peru, and such unsightly vegetation, which evidently found something congenial in the soil that had so early borne the black flower of civilized society, a prison. (1331)

Pearl on the other hand represents the reminder. She is a very innocent young girl who stands as a constant reminder of Hester's sin. Pearl is treated differently because of no sins of her own but because her mother had once committed adultery. That's a very sad thing and it again shows that lack of forgiveness in the Puritan society of 16th century. Pearl thus stands for innocence in the novel- innocence that is tainted by someone else's sins.

Dimmesdale represents the psychological damage that wrong teachings of the Church could produce. He is also symbolizing the weakness in the structure of the Church. He is a minister who preaches people against adultery but has committed a sin himself. He is a human being and if seen with compassion, he should be allowed to have a family but the Church sees him as a sinner and the constant pain and anguish that he undergoes leads to serious psychological damage. He is so upset with the Church that he proclaims: "Were I an atheist...I might have found peace, long ere now" (1499